Man slain, son and police officer charged

LeJerrious A. Perkins

Greg Antonio Fortenberry

Jasper Cortez Pittman

Holbrook Mohr/The Associated Press

August 22, 2013 9:25:33 AM

JACKSON -- A 14-year-old Mississippi boy has been charged with murder in the slaying of his father, and a police officer charged as an accessory to the killing is also charged with sexual battery of the boy.

The boy and two others -- 17-year-old LeJerrious A. Perkins and 26-year-old Greg Antonio Fortenberry -- are charged with murder, conspiracy to commit murder, arson and conspiracy to commit arson in the death of Kenneth Thompson of McComb.

Jasper Cortez Pittman, a 25-year-old Brookhaven police officer, is charged with accessory after the fact of murder, sexual battery, third degree arson and conspiracy to commit arson.

An affidavit filed in Pike County Justice Court said the officer is charged with the sexual battery of the 14-year-old slaying suspect.

District Attorney Dee Bates said the body of the 53-year-old Thompson was found late Sunday or early Monday near the officer's home near McComb, a town of about 12,700 people in south Mississippi.

Thompson had been stabbed in the neck, according to affidavits filed in Pike County Justice Court.

The arson charges are related to the suspects burning Thompson's truck to destroy evidence, according to the affidavits. The truck was found in the woods near a home of one of Pittman's relatives, the affidavits said.

Bates said both teens are charged as adults, which is customary under Mississippi law for juveniles charged with crimes that carry the possibility of a life sentence.

Bates said he couldn't provide any other details about the case.

The Pike County Sheriff's Department referred questions to the Mississippi Bureau of Investigations. MBI spokesman Warren Strain said the case is "under investigation and it would be premature to release any information at this point."

It was not immediately clear whether any of the suspects had attorneys.

A message left at the Brookhaven Police Department wasn't immediately returned.